George C. Kaiser Lecture

The 14th annual George C. Kaiser Lecture will be held at 7 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6, in Lecture Hall 1 of Schwitalla Hall. John Ikonomidis, M.D., will present "Navigating a Career in Academic Medicine."

Ikonomidis is the Horace G. Smithy Professor and Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery, director of the South Carolina Heart Valve Center and director of heart and vascular service line at the Medical University of South Carolina. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto School of Medicine; completed his internship at the Toronto Hospital, a general surgery residency at the University of Toronto and a cardiothoracic surgery residency at Stanford University.

George C. Kaiser, M.D., is professor emeritus and former chief of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Division at St. Louis University. Kaiser began his surgical career in St. Louis in 1963 as an assistant professor of surgery where he contributed to the medical community and to SLU history as part of the team conducting the first heart transplant and placement of the first artificial heart device at the University.

He has lead research teams through cardiac studies funded internally, by corporations, and by the NIH. Kaiser served as director of the thoracic surgery training program sending excellent physicians to both private and academic careers. He has served as an officer on numerous boards and medical societies including presidential terms with the Missouri Heart Association, St. Louis Surgical Society, St. Louis Thoracic Surgical Society and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. He retired from practice in 1997.